The Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz lost (4-6, 6-3, 6-2) this Wednesday against the Russian Andrey Rublev and it remained eliminated from the Mutua Madrid Open In the quarterfinal round, the reigning double champion’s streak of 14 consecutive victories in the Caja Mágica was stopped.
After losing the king of the earth, Rafael Nadalthe night before, the Manolo Santana, with the roof closed again, and the Spanish option in the fourth Masters 1000 of the season They suffered the final blow. Alcaraz gave in to a Rublev who was very powerful in his punches and with his serve, capable of controlling his usual pace of revolutions to knock down the defending champion.
The Murcian arrived in Madrid with the physical doubts about your forearm, after an inactivity that came from Miami. After three victories these days in the Caja Mágica, especially Tuesday’s in the reissue of the last final against the German Jan-Lennard Struff, Alcaraz had set his sights on the title, but Rublev was a cement wall despite to start from below.
Within the tightness of the match, the Spaniard took advantage of a drop by the Russian with his serve to break in the fifth game of the first set. As he had wished in the previous, Alcaraz took advantage of his opportunity when he presented himself and signed a correct first roundwinning the duel of intensity and rallies from the back of the court.
With everything, Rublev was able to take the blow and raise the level in the second set, one more step that the Spanish did not have, lacking freshness and going on to forgive those few options. Despite holding on in the sixth game, but without converting the balls of break of the seventh, the Murcian did not avoid the tiebreaker. History repeated itself in the third act, with a much more forceful Rublev to take an early advantage and make his intentions clear.
The world number eight’s repertoire already seemed evident that it was not going to diminish, winning his serve with authority and adding another break for 5-1. He had no response either physically or in his game. Alcaraz who saw his love affair with Madrid stopped after 14 consecutive victoriesas well as the attempt to recover his best version, while the ‘Top 3’ in the world may fall.
The Murcian, champion this year in Indian Wells, now has Rome and Roland Garros to verify that he has overcome the physical doubts, the setbacks that also take away his regularity, and he can once again be fighting for the titles, taking the filming as a positive. Rublev, who had won a match since February until arriving in Madrid, achieved his best performance in the Caja Mágica.
The Russian’s opponent in the semifinals will be the American Taylor Fritz, who eliminated the Argentine Francisco Cerúndolo in the last match of the day (6-1, 3-6, 6-3). Fritz had the fast track in his hand but he did not convert the options of break of the second set. The Argentine loosened his game and took the lead even at the beginning of the third. However, the Yankee sneaked into the semis with the only ball of break on the sleeve and closing without hesitation.
Regarding the Spanish representation, the doubles pairs of Sara Sorribes and Cristina Bucsa remainwho will seek a place in the final, and Marcel Granollers with the Argentine Horacio Zeballos. The men’s couple, second seed, beat the Belgians Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen this Wednesday by 6-7(3), 7-5 and 12-10, revenge for the defeat in the Monte Carlo semifinals.
Granollers and Zeballos achieved a great comeback to reinforce their attempt to win the first title of 2024 after playing the finals in Auckland, Buenos Aires and Indian Wells. The Spaniard and the Argentine will face the Monegasque Hugo Nys and the Polish Jan Zielinski in the quarterfinalsseventh favorites in a Madrid doubles where the ATP began innovations in its format to make it more attractive.
Furthermore, this Wednesday’s day served to close the semi-final draw of the WTA tournament, with the duel that will pit the current champion Aryna Sabalenka against the Kazakh Elena Rybakina. The Belarusian eliminated the young Russian Mirra Andreeva for the second year in a row in the Spanish capital with a 6-1, 6-4. Sabalenka, who is seeking Petra Kvitova’s record three titles in Madrid, will have a ninth meeting with Rybakina, the first on clay.
The Kazakh signed an epic comeback against her compatriot Yulia Putintseva 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-5. The recent champion in Stuttgart came back in the second set and also pulled magic to save two match points in the third. Rybakina showed that she is still the fittest tennis player of the season with 30 wins. The other semifinal is the one sealed on Tuesday by the Polish and world number one, Iga Swiatek, and the American Madison Keys.